4 ms·

Greed is good as Gordon Gecko put it, and science concurs. http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/ http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-prove

Greed is good as Gordon Gecko put it, and science concurs. http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/ http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/

Intermernet 11y ago
That Time article is linked on a bunch of fora, but none of them have a link (or reference) to the actual study. Any idea if it's available? I suspect that Time's treatment of it is not as nuanced as the original authors would have liked, and even then, the Time article doesn't actually concur that "Greed is good". They just have that phrase in the headline.
- rgbrenner 11y ago
  I think this is the paper: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140326/ncomms4526/full/ncomms4526.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140326/ncomms4526/full/nco...
  - Intermernet 11y ago
    Thanks, much obliged. I wish articles would provide proper references!
    - mikeash 11y ago
      If they did that, then more people would read the actual study and realize that the journalistic summary is completely full of it. Can't have that.
crpatino 11y ago
No, that's what the title says, but it is click bait. What the actual article says is that in social groups with well defined hierarchies, higher ranking members tend to contribute more than average to the common good (though this might be biased due to their role in defense against external threats). This old fashioned notion that the rich are expected to hit above their weight level is called Noblesse Obligue, and it's almost the exact opposite of Gecko's doctrine. What reasons there might be to have come up with such a title/conclusion given the information available? I can only think of one: Assholeness apologetics.
- karambahh 11y ago
  Slight nitpick: "noblesse oblige" not "noblesse obligue" French locution Noblesse oblige ~ En raison de leur caractère noble ~~ Because of their nobility
  - crpatino 11y ago
    ok, thanks a lot. I was aware it was French, but cannot speak/write the language myself.
ericdykstra 11y ago
Greedy algorithms come up with simple, but often suboptimal decisions when the whole picture is taken into account.
- dllthomas 11y ago
  As opposed to people, who generally come up with decisions of varying degrees of complexity, which are still suboptimal when the whole picture is taken into account.
aikah 11y ago
Define "good".
- idibidiart 11y ago
  If you'd like someone to defined Good for you, I'm afraid putting it in quotes, like "stupid", is not a good start.
uhwhat 11y ago
*Scientists interpreted observation as clickbait worthy title for blog posts

Greed is good as Gordon Gecko put it, and science concurs. http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/ http://time.com/41680/greed-is-good-science-proves/

Intermernet 11y ago

That Time article is linked on a bunch of fora, but none of them have a link (or reference) to the actual study. Any idea if it's available? I suspect that Time's treatment of it is not as nuanced as the original authors would have liked, and even then, the Time article doesn't actually concur that "Greed is good". They just have that phrase in the headline.

rgbrenner 11y ago
I think this is the paper: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140326/ncomms4526/full/ncomms4526.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140326/ncomms4526/full/nco...
- Intermernet 11y ago
  Thanks, much obliged. I wish articles would provide proper references!
  - mikeash 11y ago
    If they did that, then more people would read the actual study and realize that the journalistic summary is completely full of it. Can't have that.

crpatino 11y ago

No, that's what the title says, but it is click bait. What the actual article says is that in social groups with well defined hierarchies, higher ranking members tend to contribute more than average to the common good (though this might be biased due to their role in defense against external threats). This old fashioned notion that the rich are expected to hit above their weight level is called Noblesse Obligue, and it's almost the exact opposite of Gecko's doctrine. What reasons there might be to have come up with such a title/conclusion given the information available? I can only think of one: Assholeness apologetics.

karambahh 11y ago
Slight nitpick: "noblesse oblige" not "noblesse obligue" French locution Noblesse oblige ~ En raison de leur caractère noble ~~ Because of their nobility
- crpatino 11y ago
  ok, thanks a lot. I was aware it was French, but cannot speak/write the language myself.

ericdykstra 11y ago

Greedy algorithms come up with simple, but often suboptimal decisions when the whole picture is taken into account.

dllthomas 11y ago
As opposed to people, who generally come up with decisions of varying degrees of complexity, which are still suboptimal when the whole picture is taken into account.

aikah 11y ago

Define "good".

idibidiart 11y ago
If you'd like someone to defined Good for you, I'm afraid putting it in quotes, like "stupid", is not a good start.

uhwhat 11y ago

*Scientists interpreted observation as clickbait worthy title for blog posts